Esperanto - the World's Second Language
Esperanto has been around since 1887. Its concept has revolutionized the world. Speakers from all nations are taking the time to learn, expand, and share this language. There are even study programs to participate in that can let you travel the world and stay with host families, all while speaking and learning this language!
Why Learn?
The language is spoken by small groups of people all over the world. It's said that you'll never find a large group of Esperanto speakers anywhere, but you'll always be able to find a few. This language has spread all over the world. In fact, I heard a story where a Brit was talking with a Japanese woman and a Korean woman. He doesn't speak a word of Japanese or Korean, and their English wasn't very good, but all three were able to converse in Esperanto. And they weren't just making small talk, they were able to discuss things like Brexit in depth!
This language was created in hopes that the world would have a common tongue with which it could unify itself. If we all were able to speak a common language, we could communicate unlike ever before! Further, this language has no political ties. It's meant to be a free language to be used the world over, rather than lanugages like English, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic having very strong political overtones.
How difficult is it to pick up?
This language is quite simple, as far as foreign languages go. Check out this example:
Viro (VEE-ro) is "man". Viro is a noun, and all nouns end in "-o".
Viro - man, knabo - boy, kuniklo - rabbit
To pluralize any noun, simply add "j" at the end. ("j" makes "y" sound, so "-oj" rhymes with "boy")
Viroj - men, knaboj - boys, kunikloj - rabbits
The best part? There are no irregulars! Every noun will follow these rules. Once you know the rules, you can make several different words from one noun, as long as the logic fits.
This is only a small sample of the way this language works. For more practice and a self-teaching guide, I strongly recommend this book, available in PDF for free. Give it a read and we can speak Esperanto together in no time!